Not That Far Away
by totallygilmore
Summary: Kat's getting ready to leave for Brown, Patrick's acting strange, and Walter is having a hard time of letting his little girl go.


**Title: **Not That Far Away

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><p><strong>Summary: <strong>Kat's getting ready to leave for Brown, Patrick's acting strange, and Walter is having a hard time of letting his little girl go.

**Pairings: **Kat/Patrick [Katrick], Bianca/Cameron

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><p><strong>AN: **So, Carter Covington talked about how Walter & Patrick were going to have this father/son type bond if the show had continued. So, I kind of wrote that in as to why Walter would be more comfortable if Kat stayed for Patrick [which she doesn't stay in CA, but she does something else, that's just Walter's idea] or going to college while Patrick went with her. Oh, and the 'mean to be' comment that Patrick thinks of is from his real father [i.e.: the key chain].

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _10 Things I Hate About You_. If I did, the show would have _never _been cancelled. :)

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><p>"So, can I have your room when you leave?" Bianca asked.<p>

Kat looked at her, "Um, _no. _You have your own room."

"Yeah," Bianca began, "_But _your room is bigger."

Bianca smiled but Kat ignored her sister.

"_Plus, _it's, like, a rite of passage to ask for your sibling's room when they leave home."

Kat glared at her.

"_God,_ grouchy-pants. What is wrong with you?" Bianca mumbled.

Kat threw her _Brown _sweatshirt on her bed, next to her sister, and sighed.

"_Patrick_," she muttered.

"What about Patrick?" came their father's voice from the hallway.

"_Daaad!_" Bianca complained, "Kat was talking to _me_!"

Walter was now standing in the doorway of his eldest daughter's room.

Knowing she wasn't going to be able to leave her room or house until she told them what she was upset about.

"Patrick won't talk to me. He's ignored me for the past week and a half. I don't know what's wrong with him..."

Bianca rolled her eyes, "He's probably upset that you're leaving for college. Did you even think about him when you were making your plans?"

She hadn't.

"You're sister is right," Walter added, "You should stay here."

"That's not what she said, dad," Kat grumbled, "You've always told me to live my dreams and go to Brown. And, now, you're upset I'm leaving!"

"I just don't think you should go, that's all," Her father replied, "I have a better idea! You should stay here in California with Patrick and go to Stanford. It's an Ivy League college. Granted, it is a few hours away but it is closer."

"_Mom _went to _Brown_! And when did you start wanting me to _stay_ for a _guy_? You always told me _not _to have them _influence _my decisions!"

"I just don't want to you to leave!" Walter shouted.

Bianca slid off the bed, "I think I'm going to go downstairs…"

She left the room as Kat protested again.

"_Why?_"

"_Because _you're my little _girl!_ And it is too _far _away!"

Kat stared at her father. Then her face softened, "You know, I'm going to come home on holidays. You know that I will stay in touch with you…"

"But that's only a few times a year and once those four years blow by you'll be busy in Grad school, then before you know it you'll be getting married…you won't have time for me. Also, I won't be there to protect you…"

"I thought I was you're little cactus," she smiled.

"You've proved to me over the last two years that you're much more than that, especially when you were around Patrick."

"I'll be alright. You know that."

Walter embraced his eldest daughter, "I know."

_I promise I'll be alright. I'll call to say I love you every night. I'm just tryin' to write the story of my life…_

xxx

When Bianca asked if Kat had even thought about Patrick, she instantly felt bad. She hadn't thought about her boyfriend of a year and a half. And she also knew that was exactly why he had been acting strange and had been avoiding her.

Now, here she was, standing in his driveway with him standing across from her.

"Why are you here?" Patrick muttered.

"I originally came because I wanted to know what was wrong with you, why you wouldn't talk to me, and why you had been avoiding me," Kat began, "But something my sister said earlier today made me figure out why you had been doing all those things…you don't want me to leave."

Patrick shuffled his feet, "It's not that I don't want you to leave, Kat. I understand you have to chase your dream. It's just that…you didn't even think about _me _when _you_ started to plan what you were going to do andwhere you were going to be!"

"I'm sorry," she mumbled to her boyfriend, "I just caught up in—_wait_."

Patrick glanced up from the ground at her, "What?"

"Earlier today, my father didn't want me to leave. He told me to stay here and mentioned something about you…"

"You're point?"

Kat looked at Patrick, "You can come with me."

"To_ Rhode Island?_ To _Brown?" _Patrick exclaimed, "Kat, I _can't_. I don't _belong _there and I could _never_ get in."

"I didn't mean enroll," She replied, "But you can be in the city with me. You can rent one of those little studio apartments with the money you've saved from working at that garage last summer and you can get a job there, as well."

"Kat—"

"No, _listen to me_. We can be together. You can come visit me on campus, too," Kat realized, in that moment, how much she sounded like her younger sister. A guy wasn't technically influencing her decision but she was trying to influence his.

She looked at his face, "That is…if you still feel the same way about me."

"You _know _I do," he replied, "It's just a lot to take in."

"Well?"

_If you're meant to be, you won't don't have to think about it. You'll know, _his father once told him. So he didn't think.

"If you want me come with you, I will," he said, "And, well, if your father allows it 'cuz I really don't want to see that birth video fifty more times as a punishment."

Kat nodded and smiled, "Don't worry, as long as you're not staying in the same room as me he will be fine. Plus, he kind of gave me the idea. And he likes you."

Patrick chuckled, "I love you, Kat."

Her breath caught. There it was. The _"L" word_. The one word that neither of them had ever said to each other.

"I love you, too," she replied, without hesitation.

A car drove buy as the couple kissed. A song was blasting from it, _but _it wasn't one of those rap songs you usually hear when a car radio is blaring. The funny thing was, it was _their _song.

_Just let me be, to walk alone on empty streets. All of the things that you might say…carry me on…_

xxx

"Kat," she heard her sister whisper.

Kat rolled over onto her side; it was one in the morning, "_What_ Bianca?"

Bianca sat down on her sister's bed, "How did things go with Patrick?"

Kat smiled, "He's moving _with_ me. He's coming to Rhode Island _for _me."

"That's so romantic," Bianca sighed, "I wish my boyfriend would do that for me."

Kat laughed, "Seeing that your boyfriend is Cameron, I'm pretty sure he would."

"Yeah," Bianca giggled, "He probably would."

"Ever since we moved to California, things have changed," Kat remarked.

"For the better too," Bianca added, "I mean, you found someone who loved you and put up with _you_ of all people—"

"_Hey!_" Kat punched her sister in the arm.

"Just _kidding_!" Bianca laughed, and then continued her point, "And I went through two guys—yes, I'm counting idiot Beau Brody—to finally find the right guy who was there all along. _Cameron_. I also managed not to lose a best friend in the process—which I totally thought I was going to because Dawn dated Cameron. "

Kat sat up, listening.

"I'm going to miss you," Bianca told her sister.

Kat nodded, "I'm going to miss you, too, B."

Bianca smiled, "When you think about, the Stratford sisters have had a pretty good last two years."

_Life has moments hard to describe. Feeling great and feeling alive. Never coming down from this  
>mountain we're on. The view is so clear and it's crazy up here. Life is amazing with you on the ride…<em>

xxx

Kat, Patrick, Walter, Bianca and Cameron were all in the driveway of the Stratford house putting stuff into Kat's new car (courtesy of her father, because he decided that she needed a stable one to go across the country in. She had argued, but it was one rare battle she hadn't won) and saying their goodbyes.

"So, how's Kat doing with having to leave Patrick?" Cameron asked his girlfriend.

"Uh, Cameron. I told you on the phone _this morning _that he was going with her," Bianca replied.

"_Right_," the tall boy nodded, "I _knew _that!"

Bianca laughed at her boyfriend as she walked over to join her sister, her father, and Patrick (who had sold his bike to make money for Rhode Island).

"Remember to buckle your seatbelt, stay within the speed limit, never pick up a hitchhiker, and—"

"_Dad_."

Walter smiled, "All I was going to say was _drive safe_."

Kat shook her head, laughing.

"_Bye!_" Bianca said, hugging her sister, "I'm going to say it again—I'll miss you."

"I know," Kat said.

"Bye Patrick," Bianca added.

"Bye, Kat," Cameron threw in, "And bye, Patrick."

Patrick nodded, "Bye."

Kat hugged her father one last time before getting in the car with her boyfriend. Patrick decided to drive the first leg of the journey.

_We're miles apart. But you're in my heart. I keep you with me everywhere I go…_

As they drove off, Kat looked back at the distant figures. She kept staring until she couldn't see them anymore.

_I promise I'll be alright. I'll call to say I love you every night…_

Patrick took her hand, "To the future."

She looked over at him.

"_To the future_," she repeated, smiling.

_I'm just tryin' to write the story of my life. You know all about this dream I gotta chase. I get a little closer every day. California is not that far away._

_I'm not that far away…_

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><p><strong>My first Katrick10 Things one-shot. My first 10 Things story, actually. I've written a lot on here for **_**Glee, Make it or Break it, Gilmore Girls**_**, and various Disney shows but I've never gotten around to writing for **_**10 Things. **_**I'm glad I did, it's also one of my favorite T.V. Shows. I'm still upset they cancelled it. It was amazing and technically, the "not enough viewers" was ABCF problem. They put it in the **_**Dancing With the Stars **_**time slot. Dumb move. Plus, **_**a lot **_**of people watched it online and not on the ABCF website. But we still watched it! And they could've totally brought back a half-hour show, either on its own or when **_**Pretty Little Liars **_**returned in January. **

**Oh, and sorry if Kat may seem a little out of character with the whole "Come with me to Rhode Island" all of sudden idea.  
><strong>

**Anyways, thanks for reading and **_**please review! :)  
><strong>_

**Songs:**

**"Not That Far Away" by Jennette McCurdy [First and last scene]  
><strong>

**"Carry Me On" by Michael Rossback**

**"On the Ride" by Aly & AJ  
><strong>


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